Silo.



T. R. STONEBURNER.

SILO.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. e. 1915.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915. I

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Specification of Letters Patent. Pgmtgnted 5m 14,, 1915.

Application filed. March 8, 1915. Serial No. 13,008.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS R. STONE- BURNER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the county of Alexandria and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Silos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to silos and it has for its object the provision of an improved hollow tile silo provided with means incorporated in the construction of the tiles themselves for cooperating with the doors of the silo to form an air and fluid tight joint throughout the height of said silo.

Further objects and advantages, of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which now follows.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a partial front elevation of a silo construct.

ed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a detailed perspective view ofone of the doors. Fig. 3 is a view with one of the tiles at the edge of the doorway in plan and with one of the doors in section. Fig. 4 is a partial vertical sectional view taken upon line 4-1 of Fig. 3 and, Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through one of the tiles illustrating a modified form of packing strip.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 5 designates the main body of the silo which is constructed of hollow tile such, forinstance, as terra cotta tile. A continuous doorway 6 is formed in the wall of the silo extending from the top to the bottom thereof. For reinforcing the silo and holding the tile in proper position to resist internal strain, rods 7 pass through grooves 8 and around the silo. This structure is well known and forms no part of the present invention. These rods span the doorway and provide, in conjunction with handles 9, a ladder by which the top of the silo may be reached. Those portions of the rods 7 which span the doorway also provide means for initially supporting the doors 10 in approximate position during the time that the silo is being filled. \Vhen the silo is filled the weight of the material within the silo presses these doors outwardly and against packing strips hereinafter described, the weight of the ma-.

terial thus serving to retain the doors in place and to force sald doors against said packing strips with such force as to main tuin an air tight joint between the doors and the walls of the silo. It is desirable, however, to provide means for supporting the doors in approximate position until the silo is sufficiently filled to cause the weight of the material to press the doors outwardly and to this end straps 11 having hooked upper ends 12 and slotted lower ends 14 are provided. Bolts 15 carried by the door pass through the slots 14 and permit a limited movement ofthe door with relation to the straps 11. While the silo is being filled the hooks 12 are engaged over the rods 7 but this mounting of the doors is to a certain extent a floating mounting due to the bolt and slot connection between the door and the strap 11 and this mounting permits a limited verticalmovementof the doors with relation to the rods 7 and with relation to each other, so that the best possible seating may be secured for these doors. The doors 10 are made up of matched boards as shown and their upper and lower edges are beveled at 16 and 17 and packing strips 18, preferably of rubber. aredisposed between the meeting edges of thesedoors.

The invention resides particularly in the.

construction best illustrated in Fig. 3 where it will be seen that the tiles at the sides of the doorway are recessed at 18 to form a door jamb and that the inner vertical face is provided with a dove-tail recess 19 extending vertically throughout the height of the doorway (see Fig. 1) and in which a packing strip 20 of rubber is seated. Heretofore, it has been proposed to secure strips of felt to the doors for the purpose of pro- -viding a tight joint between the doors and the door jamb of the hollow tile silo. Owing to slight inaccuracies in the surface of the tile which constitutes the door jamb, it has been impossible to secure a tight joint with this felt. Furthermore, the felt soon becomes detached from the doors because the parts stick together more or less after the doors have been pressed with great pressure against the door iamb over a period of perhaps months. contemplates the provision of tiles recessed for the reception of rubber packing strips which extend the full height of the doorway and which become a part ofthe body construction of the silo. By reason of the dove-tail shape of the recesses 19 it is impossible for the rubber strips 20 to become dislodged therefrom while these rubber strips provide a most efficient way of secure This invention, therefore,

ing an air and liquid tight joint at this point. A modified form of packing strip is illustrated in Fig. 5 where the tile 5 is provided with a dove-tail recess 19 and a strip or Web of rubber or like packing material 20 is wedged into place by a substantially triangular wedge 21. It is to be noted that the side walls of the recess 19 are not exactly parallel with the side walls of the strip 21 but that upon the contrary these walls converge toward each other toward the mouth of the recess. Therefore, the compression of the strip 20 adjacent the mouth of the recess is greater than toward the base of the recess and thereby a wedging action of the strip 20 within the recess 19 is had. The construction shown in Fig. 5 renders it possible to use a sheet like strip of packing material instead of a comparatively thick strip thereof as in Fig. 3, whereby the eX- pense may be materially reduced.

While elements shown and described are well adapted to serve the purposes for which they are intended it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, but that it includes within its purview any equivalent structure coming within the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a silo the combination with a body portion'provided with a continuous door- Way extending from the top to the bottom thereof, of packing strips of resilient material secured to the inner faces of said doorway and extending continuously throughout the height of said body portion, doors spanning said doorway and overlapping and bearing againstsaid strips, a series of fixed members constituting a part of the silo construction and spanning the doorway. at intervals throughout the height thereof and means carried by each of said doors which supports said doors from an adjacent one of said fixed members and floatingly mounts said door with relation to said fixed member. 2. In a device of the character described the combination with a silo having a continuous doorway, of doors having beveled overlapping edges for closing said doorway, members comprising a part of the body construction of the silo and spanning said doorway, hooks arranged to en age over said members and provided with slotted lower ends and bolts traversing said slotted lower ends of the hooks and entering said doors.

3. In a device of the character described the combination with a silo having a continuous doorway, of doors having beveled overlapping edges for closing said doorway, members comprising a part of the body construction of the silo and spanning said doorway, hooks arranged to engage over said members and provided with slotted lower ends and bolts traversing said slotted lower ends of the hooks and enterin said doors and packing strips disposed l oetween the abutting edges of said doors.

4. In a silo formed of hollow tile and provided with a continuous vertical doorway, the tile upon the opposite sides of said doorway being vertically channeled to form continuous vertical dove-tailed recesses, of packing strips of resilient material and of flat sheet form seated in said recesses and wedge strips of V shape lying behind said resilient strips and wedging them into place, the outer walls of the wedge strips and the inner walls of the dovetailed recesses being inwardly divergent.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS R. STONEBURNER.

Witnesses:

S. CLEPATCH, F. G. CAMPBELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of atents. Washington, D. G. 

